This semester pianist and composer Jiří Levíček started teaching music theory and aural comprehension at NYU Prague.
Levíček has a good understanding of American undergraduates, as he was one himself. After finishing his BA at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno, he was accepted into a semester-long program in the jazz studies department of the University of North Texas (UNT). Five days after he arrived, he auditioned for the One O’Clock Band, the school’s Grammy award-nominated big band which performs at major jazz venues and festivals around the world. He got in. One semester turned into one year, one year into two, two years into three… “Well, I never thought I’d be in Texas for nine years,” he smiles.
While he was at UNT he performed around the world – the USA, South America, Europe – and also at the Czech Republic’s American Spring Festival where he accompanied the dean of his school and classical flautist James Scott. Levíček kept in close contact with Czech musicians while he was abroad. Twice a year he came back for tours and composition projects and joined the acclaimed Robert Balzar Trio, where he is still the pianist today.
In 2014 Levíček and his wife, Chaazi Levíček – an American opera singer who also studied at UNT – decided to move to the Czech Republic to pursue their musical careers. Soon after she arrived, she won the Karlovy Vary Dvořák classical singing competition. The couple has performed together at many concerts, including at the world renowned Prague Spring Festival. In addition to his classes at NYU Prague, Levíček teaches at the Ježek Conservatory and JAMU. “I try to keep my teaching as practical as possible, and to connect theory to actual music. If you compose, you use theory in practice all time.”
How does he compare studying music in the Czech Republic versus Texas? “Prague has so much to offer students – musically and in general,” says Levíček. “I see students as sponges, and a good student soaks in everything. There is so much to soak in here.”